Dissertation Problem Statement
When writing a dissertation, remember that it should be organized around a set of questions. These questions will serve as a guide for your research work. The questions should be written in a form of problem statement with the aim of giving the work a specific focus. Research questions basically serve as a link between your research, previous research, and your ideas.
Perhaps mid-way your dissertation you realize that the problem statement does not exactly cover what you had in mind. If not sure, there is always room for improvement. At times, it may be re-drafted or completely edited once the whole research is complete. Whatever the reasons, the changes should not limit the scope and objectives of the research.
When selecting a dissertation problem statement, you may approach it in the following perspectives:
- Open ended
- Argumentative
- Contradictory knowledge
- Provocative
- Knowledge-action conflict and vice versa
Understanding your topic well can help you design a perfect problem statement for your dissertation. This means you will not need to revise it further during the writing process.
Remember to make your dissertation problem statement believable. The more skeptical, unrealistic or vulnerable your statement is, the more reasons you will have to revise it. Eliminate all skeptics by relying on facts gathered from previous research.
Understand that the objectives of a problem statement include:
- Establish that a problem is caused do to the existence of certain factors
- Relate the problem to similar occurrences
- Justify the need for research in the particular area.
Once you have set out the objectives of your research, writing a good dissertation should be easy. Remember that to write a suitable problem statement for a dissertation, you need to understand the various theories, literature and previous research work on the same topic.